SAINT LEO, Fla. — Madelyn Wise took the latter from Virginia Wise as the freshman outsmarted the Cavaliers in the Flagler softball team's doubleheader-opening, 3-0, win before the Saints were bested by the host No. 25-ranked Saint Leo by the same score that handed them a win in the morning Saturday.
The split of 3-0 ballgames carry Flagler (7-3) into another doubleheader Sunday, where the Saints will end the Saint Leo Tournament the same way they started it with a matchup with UVA Wise at 10 a.m., followed by the 3 p.m. tilt with Saint Leo.
The Saints' Wise (W, 2-2) picked the right time to record her first complete-game shutout, behind six strikeouts while allowing eight hits, three walks and leaving 11 Cavs stranded on base.
None of it rattled the freshman from Edgefield, S.C., though, as she remained locked in inside the circle and let her offense do the rest.
"She stayed composed and being a freshman, that says something," Flagler head coach
Kathryn Geouge said. "She threw some really big pitches in key situations to help herself out today."
In the No. 9 hole,
NaJah Gerrald went 2-for-2 with a stolen base to put herself in position for
Paige Maseda to use a sacrifice fly, bringing the junior shortstop home for the first run in the third inning. Then, it was
Kyleigh Taylor who added the extra cushion.
The sophomore from Deland, Fla., made no bones about it as she blasted a two-run, two-out shot into left field, scoring
Natalie Murphy, who reached on an error, for the three-run lead before Wise capped it off with her first career shutout.
"We talk about making adjustments at-bat to at-bat all the time and Kyleigh made a huge adjustment for her final at-bat," Geouge said. "It was great to have the additional run support at the end of the game."
Game 2 — Saint Leo 3, Flagler 0
In the night cap, the Saints hung right with No. 25 Saint Leo, but the fifth inning doomed them.
The Lions' three-run fifth frame was enough to propel them over Kyra Gibson (L, 5-1), who allowed those runs over six innings of work with four strikeouts. Flagler was able to connect on just four hits on Saint Leo pitcher
Madi Mott (W, 4-1) as
Maseda, Taylor, Maria
Kappos and
Gerrald each had one.
"Saint Leo kept the pressure on us the whole game and we lost focus for one inning and they took advantage of it," Geouge said. "Going into tomorrow, we are looking to increase our quality at-bats and keep focus defensively throughout the game."
Be the first to know what's going on with the Saints -- Follow @FlaglerSports on Twitter, follow FlaglerSports on Instagram, become a fan of Flagler College Athletics on Facebook and subscribe to the Flagler College Athletics e-newsletter to receive the latest news, schedule updates and to interact with Flagler Athletics.
